The Super Mario Bros. Movie from Universal/Illumination held strong in weekend No. 2, earning a massive $87M domestically and outperforming even the highest expectations for this week’s box office figures. The figure surpasses the previous record-holder Frozen II ($85.9M), making it the biggest second weekend ever for an animated picture, according to reports.
Can Mario fly very far? The animated movie has earned $678M globally as of right now, easily making it the largest release of 2023. Up until May 5, when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 debuts, there is no competition. The film will undoubtedly pass the billion-dollar milestone; the only remaining issue is how far it will go. Is $1.5B on the table? Over the busy holiday and vacation period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Frozen II reached its highest global gross of $1.45 billion. Since Mario lacks the same privilege, its massive earnings are all the more astounding.
Other than that, The Pope’s Exorcist, starring Russell Crowe, edged out Nicolas Cage’s Renfield for No. 2 with $8.5M as opposed to $7.7M. Do you recall how popular this dynamic combo was back in 2000? Gladiator by Crowe climbed to $186 million, but Gone in 60 Seconds by Cage made $101 million domestically a month later. That seems so long ago now!
The last A24 film, Beau is Afraid, starring Joaquin Phoenix, brought in $306,396 from four locations, which is the highest performance for the company since Uncut Gems earned an average of $105K from five screens in 2019.
